The New & Improved Jacob Ben Israel
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and ninety-one: Jacob decides what his lady love needs is a polished new version of him...


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 18th cycle. Now cycle 19!_

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**"The New & Improved Jacob Ben Israel"  
Jacob/Suzy  
Sequel to "All Peppered Up" **

It was the talk of the hallways at McKinley High that morning. Those who had witnessed it firsthand had been shocked, those who had missed it were left curious… Beyond shock and curiosity though, it was all disbelief… It 'couldn't possibly' be him, but then once they saw him… There were no words.

They would all start with a state of 'who is that, new guy?' before someone would blink and identify him: 'Wait, hang on, that's Jacob Ben Israel!' or whichever nickname they knew him by. If they didn't know his name yet, they would after that day.

The clothes were new, the shoes were his older brother's, and the hair… It was his Everest, but at last it lay flat. He was unable to even think about putting his fingers near his eyes, which made contacts out of the question. So he was striding down the halls without his glasses on… It was one thing to try and maintain the appearance that he was this whole other person when he could barely see what was happening around him… He felt his heart ramming violently left and right, a pretender with a shaky mask. He kept reminding himself what he was doing and why he was doing it, but meanwhile there was his old self pulverizing his mind's ear, screaming that he was crazy and he would get his ass handed to him, in instalments, for the rest of his high school days and then some, and that was provided they didn't run him out of McKinley first. If it wasn't that his confidence had been fuelled for perilous acts of love, he might have buckled… But he was going to stay the course… The blurry course his glasses-lacking eyes was trying to navigate without tripping over or running into anything… especially anything in a letter jacket.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he thought surely his time of doom had come, and it took all his strengths not to squeal… If he didn't look afraid maybe they'd only rough him up a li… It wasn't a jock.

"I wouldn't recognize myself in a mirror right now, so I gotta ask… Suzy?" he interrogated the shape of the person in front of him.

He felt a shiver when a hand reached inside his jacket, and a moment later his glasses were being put back on his face. "Of course it's me," Suzy spoke as she pushed up the glasses on his nose. "The better question is who are you supposed to be?" she frowned… This was not a happy face.

"You don't like it?" he asked slowly. Suzy sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling him along toward what he eventually realized was the girls' bathroom. He had no time to argue; she pushed the door open and looked in.

"Out!" she called to a couple of freshmen girls who quickly skittered away. Suzy pulled him into the now-emptied room. He was about to speak, but then… "What'd you do to your hair?" She was observing it, with hands tentatively hanging in the air like she wanted to touch it but was afraid of what it'd feel like.

"A-a lot, really, it was…"

"Can you undo it?" she begged, almost freaked out. He gave a quick nod and went to the sink. He washed and washed as best he could. In the time it took he could still hear Suzy chasing away girls every now and then. She had enough command in her to turn them all away. He would have complimented her on it if he wasn't busy getting his hair stripped of all he'd done to get it down. By the time he was done he was dizzy, his new clothes were splashed with water, and his hair sprouted like a bush.

"Better?" he asked, putting his glasses back on… Now there was that smile. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd like it…" he shrugged, and he shook his head. "I… N… I'm sorry," he repeated. "Why…"

"Did you look? That wasn't you… not the guy I like…" He had no answer… Even if they had gone on a date, even if she'd kissed him, it was still a thrill to the heart to hear her say she liked him. It made listening to what she'd say next even more important. "Was it supposed to be for me?" she asked, and he sheepishly nodded… then she smacked his chest, and he weakly whimpered. "I like the big hair, okay? I like the glasses, and everything else, because it's you. Do you see me trying to change?" He shook his head. "Do you want me to?"

"No!" he burst out immediately, and he saw her smile return… tenfold. "I got it, I swear," he nodded. She finally reached and tapped the newly-restored hair with a bit of giddiness. "You're amazing…" he breathed out, enthralled… He still wanted to pinch himself every time she spoke to him. And then just the way he'd lose his breath over her, she would lose hers for him, too… "Guess I'll return the clothes…"

"No!" Now it was her who was startled into response, and she blushed, looking down for a beat. "I-I mean, for sometimes… It might be… good…" she tugged at his jacket.

"Okay then," he agreed and got a kiss for it. He didn't faint like the first time, though his knees did buckle still.

"We should probably get out of here," she smirked, grasping his hand and leading him out into the halls. He'd never thought the day would ever come he'd have a girl's hand in his, the way he did now… It was even better than he imagined.

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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